trailer wheel spacers

[mikecwik]

this is how i spent a good portion of my 4th of july.

i bought a 12 foot triton flatbed aluminum trailer off of the people i work for. while the new tires they had put on were the same sidewall size as the old ones the new ones were 1/2" wider and were rubbing on the torsion bars.

i made some spacers for the problem as i didnt want to get new tires and try to get rid of brand new trailer tires. i think that this is illegal but i only went with 1/8 inch spacers and wont go more if these dont work. ill probably check the torque after each use anyway.

this was my first attempt at making a circle cutter and it was flawed to 1/32.

[whateg0]

Looks good. I don't know about legality, but as long as you have all the threads in the lugnuts engaged, I'd say they should work just fine.

Dave

[urch55]

I don't know why they would be illegal.
I personally would not have a problem with wider spacers as long as you don't run out of threads on the stud.

[SidecarFlip]

I've done worse on farm implements. I've used hacksawed pipe nipples for spacers. Actually, the left rim on my square bailer still has the nipples between the rim and hub.... Been that way for years.

[triptester]

Any modification to a stock wheel for street use is technically illegal. But a backing plate is commonly welded to to wheels used for racing for added strenght in the lug nut area.

[urch55]

Any modification to a stock wheel for street use is technically illegal.

Trip.
"Technically" The wheel is not modified. The spacer is sandwiched between the hub and wheel, no mention of welding it to the wheel.

[Dan Timberlake]

Were the wheels "hub centered" ? If so, Have the spacers unplugged the hub pilot from the wheel?

[mikecwik]

lug centered. thats a good point that you bring up though and i could see how it might be easily overlooked until the test ride.

[mikecwik]

well, if luck was on your side and you gave the wheel a spin by hand im sure the wobble would be obvious then and there before a test ride.

[SickSpeedMonte]

These are available for ~$10-12 at just about any parts store.

[mikecwik]

get out of town! obviously i didnt know that. i have to wonder why they have them though.

the only ones ive ever seen were for jeeps or a recall modification and they were pretty pricey.

[SickSpeedMonte]

I can't tell if you're being sarcastic or not, but if you don't need them to be hub-centric, or so thick that they need a second set of wheel studs (i.e. adapter style spacers), then they are pretty readily available.

BTW.. does anyone else seem to have a delay between what they type and when it shows up in the reply box? Especially deleting, it seems very sluggish... Maybe it's our network or something.

[mikecwik]

no, i wasnt being sarcastic. i usually am though.

even considering napa being 5 miles from home if they wanted more than $10 for a set id just rather be at home making them instead of going there. ill probably never have need for spacers again but im glad you told me they are readily available.

[SickSpeedMonte]

Got ya. Yeah, they probably would be a little north of $10 in the end, but maybe not $10 more than the material used to fab them. They do make them in steel (I can't remember if it was topline or Mr.G that did, it's been a while since my speed shop days) and aluminum... which you probably want to stay away from aluminum-on-steel or on-iron due to the galvanic reaction.